Inu-Ranma
by MeddyGrey
Summary: Akane can cook? A moonlit kiss? Ranma gets the flu? The normally crazy world of the Nerima Wrecking Crew seems oddly mundane, but it is only the calm before the storm. Obvious crossover with Inu-Yasha (Just split chapters onto 2 pages)
1. Chapter 1: Cake

Inu-Ranma

By Medina

*Characters property of Rumiko Takahashi. I have no delusions of them belonging to me whatsoever, even as much as I love them.

Chapter 1: Cake

"I HAVE to make this cake right!!" Akane screamed at the top of her lungs, her face turning a bright shiny red, grasping at Kasumi's dress collar, Kasumi with a big sweatdrop on her forehead. 

  
"Akane, do calm down!" Kasumi said, holding a humorative smile on her face and maintaining the evenness of voice that she always did. Akane let go and bounded around the kitchen.

  
"You don't understand! This is Ranma's eighteenth birthday, and I told him that I would make him the best cake ever... of course, he laughed so hard that he almost wet his pants... but I'm DETERMINED to do this," she slammed her fist down on the countertop, causing all of the items upon it to jump a few inches. The flour and various spices inch dangerously close to the edge.

  
"Alright, I'll help you. I can see this means a lot to you," Kasumi smiled, walking to the cupboard to get out the large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. Akane brightened.

  
"Thank you, my wonderful, wonderful sister! I have to prove to him that I can do something right, and this cake will have to be perfect. Then he'll stop bothering me about how I "can't cook"..."

  
"Ah, Akane, it's so nice for you to be showing how much you care for him now, and I'm sure even if the cake tastes like chalk, he'll appreciate you baking for him!" the older girl said with her ever-cheerful smile upon her face. Akane facefaulted.

  
"Chalk? HEY, I-- I don't _care for _that pervert! I just have to get that baka to stop making fun of me..." she looked back at Kasumi, who was still smiling. Akane sighed, leaning her chin onto her fist, "Okay... I do care about him... Just don't go spreading it all over the place!"

  
"Do I look like Nabiki?" the two of them broke out into a fit of sisterly giggling, and then started to gather the necessary ingredients to create an edible cake.

  
"Baking soda?"

  
"Akane, that's father's foot powder..."

  
"Oops..."

  
"Can you get me the fudge flakes?"

  
"Sure, here."

  
"Akane... these are ground cloves..."  
  
"Oops again..."

* * * *

"Ke ke ke... I still can't believe that I found one! In all my travels, in all my years!" he laughed to himself as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop, a bundle twice his size slung across his back, "and on top of that, it was inside an exquisitely lacy... hehe... darling," he pulled out a lightly padded brassiere that was white with lavender lace and pink flowers. "I doubt I got any sort of bonus in today's haul, but I think these are good enough in themselves."

  
Happosai bounded down into an open window in the Tendo House, which led into Ranma and Genma's room, which was fortuitously empty. The old man took off the rag that he had tied around his head and under his nose, opened his bag and dug right into the spoils of the day. Underwear of all shapes, colors, sizes and materials flowed from the emptying bag, all stolen from women around the Nerima area, some unaware of their missing laundry, others had chased the mysterious pervert that had invaded their unmentionables or thrown a rock or flowerpot at him. The little man rubbed a bump on his head as he examined each article meticulously, his smarmy little hands sweating with excitement.

  
"Now that I think about it... where did I leave my happy surprise from yesterday?" he took out the bra again and searched its extent, but didn't find what he was looking for. "Oh no, don't tell me that I lost it!!" he stood up, his hands clasped to his face, his eyes wide with fear. "With it, I could surely become the most powerful martial artist... not that I'm not already, but it could sure increase my daily haul!" he patted his own gi all over, and still found nothing.

  
"It has to be here!" he said aloud, leaping from place to place, tearing apart the room looking for his prized find. He stopped, and suddenly, he remembered. "AH! I know, I put it in my sea salt jar to keep people out of it... who wants to go through an old man's salts anyway?" he ran to his corner of the room, looking through the mess that he left of bras, panties, nylons, garters, teddies, his pipe, and various herbs and analgesics he kept for good use. "My jar's gone...where is it?" 

  
He took to racing through the house, and came upon Kasumi and Akane in the kitchen. His eyes brightened, and forgot about finding his lost treasure for a moment.

  
"Akane! I need comforting, please hold me in your nurturing bosom!" he cried, leaping at at Akane, who had automatically left from mixing eggs in a bowl into a defensive position; in this household, Akane was always on alert for whatever might creep up on her, whether it be a suitor, a homicidal fiancee of Ranma's, or, in this case, a raging pervert.

  
"Away from me, slime!!" she spat angrily, splatting Happosai's face onto the counter, this time shaking it so much that the flour began to teeter on the edge.

  
"Akane, the flour!" Kasumi shouted a warning from across the kitchen where she was setting the oven to preheat. Akane immediately saw the flour nearly tumbling down, taking the other spice jars with it. 

  
"I can't finish the cake without the flour!!" Akane reminded herself, and grabbing the bowl, made a dive for the floor in front of the falling ingredients. 

  
"Phew..." Akane sighed. She had caught just enough of the flour, albeit mixed with an unknown amount of various spices and sugar, to make her cake. She stood up, putting the bowl back on the counter, then turned to Happosai again, who was recovering from being mashed onto a hard surface.

  
"You dried-up little toad... you almost RUINED my cake!"

  
"Now now, Akane, I'm sure you were doing that already..." he said in a-matter-of-fact tone. Akane's eye were red with rage. "Oh look! There's my sea salt!" he reached for one of the overturned spice jars.

  
"Take your stupid sea salt and rot in hell!!!" Akane screamed as she booted him through the roof and far away.

In the next town over, from the inside of a Happosai-shaped hole, one would hear...

  
"My sea salt... where is the shard?"

  
* * * *

"Come back here, you crummy little cutlet! Gimme back my jacket, or I'll tell Akane what you really are!!" Ranma bellowed as he chased the cute little pig down the street, the pig trailing a red jacket behind him, his jaws clamped tightly to the sleeve. Ranma dove and nearly snagged his evasive shirt, but the piglet deftly leapt to the side, trailing the sleeve in the other direction, sending Ranma skidding in the dirt. "GAAAH!!!"

  
Ryoga sweated, for he knew that Ranma was really angry now, and if he did get caught this time, it would mean _pain_. Who knows? Would Ranma ever get mad enough to make pork cutlets out of him? He shuddered at the thought of being battered, deep fried and dipped in tonkatsu sauce, and continued to run as fast as his porcine hooves could carry him. He had better get a really big hug from Akane for this!

  
The Tendo doorstep? Had he really found it? He thanked the gods for leading him to sanctuary! A good thing too; Ranma was swiftly closing in on him! 

  
"I gotcha!!" Ranma finally snatched up his shirt, but Ryoga relented likewise, and slipped through the Tendo House's door, which had been conveniently left ajar. Ranma, thoroughly steamed, slipped his dirty jacket back on and rushed into the house. "What the hell was that all about? Come out, you little creep!"

  
Darkness greeted Ranma, and a strike of caution went through his body; there was someone hiding in here. He immediately slowed down, priming his senses to detect any attack that might come at him under the cover of shadows. The house was too quiet, and that smell -- he didn't recognize it. He reached for the light switch and flipped it on...

  
"SUPRISE!!!"

  
Leaping into a defensive pose, Ranma scanned his attackers and saw... balloons, confetti falling on him, and everyone he knew?

  
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!"

  
His jaw dropped; he definitely hadn't been expecting this! An Amazon ambush, yes; Akane with a mallet, sure; his pop with a new fiancee, he wouldn't be fazed; but this, a suprise party? No. On top of that, _all_ of his fiancees were here, along with a few of his enemies, and no one was fighting. Akane, in a blue party dress, holding a wheezing P-Chan in her arms came forward, and with a smile, strapped a pointed hat to her fiancee's head, which said "Birthday Boy" in English. 

  
"Forgive P-Chan, I had him steal your jacket so you would come here in a hurry," Ranma looked down at the pig, who seemed contented to remain in Akane's grasp -- a little too much.

  
"Aw, no hard feelings," he said, a smile on his face that was simply too big to be trusted and began to pet P-Chan. "not on my birthday, Mr. Cutlet.." he whispered to Ryoga, the piglet's eyes nearly bugging out from Ranma's "petting" grip. 

  
"I can't believe all of these people are here. Shampoo, Mousse, the Mummy, Ucchan, Kuno... (why him?), Kodachi... (why her?), my school buds, and, wow, almost every person we've had adventures with! How did you do it? I mean, without causing World War Three?" Ranma asked, genuinely marveled by the people there... and the peace that remained amidst the party. Akane smiled.

  
"Well, you can thank your mother for that! She sent out the invitations to your other "fiancees" saying that they were invited, but if they caused any trouble that she would make you commit seppuku in accordance to the pact made ten years ago by you and your father," Akane stated. Ranma bigsweated.

  
"That explains them, but what about everyone else?" he pointed to all of the other guests that would normally be making life very difficult, not to mention the house into shambles.

  
"Ah... I'm not sure. I think since Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi have reason to enforce the peace, they must have leverage over some of the other people. I'm sure everyone at this party's life has been threatened in some way or another, so it'll be a nice party for once, don't you think?" Akane told him, wryly. Ranma bigsweated again.

  
"What about you, Akane, what's your leverage?" he asked, a sudden flash of cunning striking his brain. Akane looked at him and turned red, dropping P-Chan, who discreetly skittered off to the bathroom.

  
"I... I..." she stuttered, and frowned. "Ranma, I made you a cake!" she shouted suddenly, gesturing to the three-layer cake that sat on the dining table. The crowd went silent, their attention to the cake, where Kasumi, unaware, stood, putting eighteen candles on it. Ranma blankly walked over to the confection: it was a cake, it smelled like a cake _("That was the odd smell that I got when I came in!")_, the frosting, uneven, was a swirly blue, with icing flowers that looked a bit wilted. On top, "Ran-MA" was written in a childish hand.

  
"You... made this?" he looked at Akane, trying not to sound rude. She nodded, smiling at her handiwork. Ranma smiled too...

  
"Let's all sing now, the candles are lit!' Kasumi announced, breaking the tension brought about by the confection of Akane's making. Kasumi began to wave her hands back and forth to get everyone to start the song together.

  
"Happy biiiirth-day toooo yoooooou..."

  
Ranma felt the song as a funeral dirge, and looked about for an escape, but he was surrounded by the singing throng. He wanted to make Akane happy, but... her cooking usually caused hospital visits, not happy birthdays. The song was almost ending... try to act naturally...

  
"Blow out your candles, Ranma," Akane whispered, nudging him. He smiled at her, despite the sweat that covered his face, and quickly blew the candles out, to which the crowd gave a hearty cheer. He was then enveloped by his other fiancees, each trying to move him in a different direction.

  
"Ran-chan, I have a gift for you! Open mine first!" Ukyo said, waving a wrapped box in front of his face so quickly that he barely made out the shrimp-shaped design on the paper, then he was jerked to another girl.

  
"Aiyaah! Spatula-girl no get to give airen first present! Ranma want Shampoo gift now, yes yes?" she gazed into Ranma's eyes, holding a gift that was obviously some chinese talisman, for Shampoo hadn't bothered to put it in a box, the crudely-taped wrapping paper giving away its shape. Ranma was sweating more here than with Akane's cake!

  
"Lord Ranma!" he didn't want to look -- he knew who it was. "Forget their crude knick-knacks, come away with me! I've bought us two plane tickets to a tropical paradise," Kodachi said, pulling his arm towards her, despite the fact that Shampoo was refusing to let go, and Ukyo was creeping up on the both of them with her spatula, "let us lay to waste these days of rivalry and heartbreak, let us be someplace where our true passion can thrive!"

  
"Lemme go!" he sputtered, as Kodachi and Shampoo enveloped more and more of each arm, staring daggers at one another, Ukyo sneaking up behind them both with her spatula high above her head.

  
"Ranma, would you have the first piece of the cake...?" Akane asked, turning around with a big slice of the cake on a plate, her expression darkening when she saw the tug-of-war ensuing before her.

  
"I guess you're too busy for this, then, aren't you?" she said, her voice monotone. Ranma was tempted to nod his head, but took his time, wondering which situation was worse at the moment. He reeled back as Ukyo took a swing for Kodachi, who pulled back, along with Ranma's arm, jerking it into a most uncomfortable angle. Akane frowned, and noticing a damp Ryoga re-entering the Dojo hall, turned her back to Ranma. "I'm sure Ryoga would be happy to have it..."

  
"I want it!" Ranma said quickly -- he hated to be upstaged by that overdramatic hog, and also found Akane's cake to hold advantages -- a little food poisoning was better than being in the middle of a jealous cat-fight, not to mention have to face Akane the next day.

  
"You no want!"

  
"Open my present!"

  
"Come away with me!"

  
"A-Hem."

  
The three girls eyes all shot to the source of the interruption. Nodoka Saotome stood, her arms crossed, her fingers caressing the hilt of the Saotome family katana. Ranma found himself free, and glad of it --for more reasons than one. His mother smiled, and went back to talking to the old lady from down the street who always splashed Ranma while watering her front yard. He strolled over to Akane, who was alone by her cake.

  
"No one wants any... and I think Ryoga got lost on purpose," she said, looking down, disappointed, at her cake. "And I worked so hard on it..."  
Ranma placed his hand over Akane's hand that was holding the plate. She looked up and saw his face radiating a kind gratitude.

  
"Thanks Akane, I'm really glad that you made this cake for me -- it means a lot," he took the plate from her hand, and while she beamed at him, he downed half of it in one bite. He chewed, he moved it around in his mouth, checked for the taste of vinegar or rat poison -- none. Akane awaited her verdict.

  
"Akane," he mumbled with his mouth full, an odd expression on his face which Akane didn't like a bit, "this... this tastes really good!" She nearly fell over. He swallowed a bit, allowing him to speak clearer; "Yeah, it's like, chocolate mixed with spices -- it seems like it shouldn't go together, but the flavor's actually great! And the twinge of salt really brings out the sweetness of the frosting and the bits of banana. I'm really impressed, Akane, you must have worked really hard on this! Thanks a lot -- better than any other present I could get!" He smiled, and continued to chew, but wrapped his arm around her back for a semblance of a hug. Seeing this, the jaws of the other three contendresses dropped, and each in turn sulked away to another corner of the hall.

  
Akane was petrified, but not with fear -- she didn't know what to do when she did something right for a change, and especially in cooking! She remembered all of the spices that had been mixed in when she had knocked everything off of the counter when the old man had came after her... the salt... she cringed. And she didn't even remember putting in any banana; perhaps that was what she had thrown in instead of the toffee chips that she thought went in. Oh well, it worked, didn't it? Finally, she reacted -- she smiled the biggest smile she had given in a long time, and blushed. He had hugged her, of course, and given her some outstanding compliments.

  
By now, others had seen that Ranma wasn't doubled over in pain or throwing up, so their interest was peaked, and Kasumi was starting to cut off more pieces for the guests. Ranma chomped down the second half of his cake, and chewed contentedly until he felt something crunch between his teeth and slide uncomfortably down his throat.

  
"Ech... Akane, I think you left a bit of eggshell in there," he told her, feeling around his teeth with his tongue to make sure he hadn't chipped anything. She didn't hear his comment amidst her euphoria.

  
"Eh, what is this?" Happosai said, wandering in from outside, still dusty from being punted away earlier in the day. He saw the cake on the table, and looked up at Akane, "So, you really were making a cake, eh? And it looks like a success! Hah, thank me for the help!" he began to laugh, and run about the Dojo touching the women's behinds as he went. Akane didn't notice him, still in shock, but when the little pervert came across one stately pair of legs, he was stopped by a blunt object to his head. He wobbled about, and was plucked up by the hand of Nodoka Saotome.

  
"You were not invited, master, so please, leave!" she told him softly, then chucked him out of an open window, leaving him dazed outside.

When the stars had stopped circling his bald head, he lay there contemplating something else that he had been intent on finding there.

  
"The shard! It went into Akane's flour mix, which means... BLAST! It's irretrievable now..."

* * * *

As the final guest waved good-bye to Ranma, Akane and the rest of the Tendo-Saotome clan milled about the dojo, cleaning up the remnants of the party. Ranma returned to the mound of presents he had received, and began to wad up the wrapping paper that littered the ground, smiling. Akane, looking quite worn out, but still glowing with the success of her cake, took the large platter it had sat on back into the kitchen; there was hardly a crumb of it left, and she had even been asked by a few where they could get the recipe. She had only been able to blush, and tell them that it was an 'old family secret', and felt privately dismayed that she didn't even know what exactly was in it herself. 

  
That night, after a long, hot bath, Akane lay back on her bed, staring at the celling, letting the light of the full moon fill her room with a silver hue. She sighed, in her contemplation; things were going much better these days, less fights, less kidnappings, more harmony in the family. It was like all of the lunacy of the past three years was finally spinning down -- curses were just another part of life, fiancees and suitors were easier to deal with after the experience they had gained; life had to go on, she mused, and it looked like her life was taking off in the right direction. She was so glad that she had made Ranma that cake, and given Nodoka the notion of a suprise party; and she could almost admit it to herself... she did rather like Ranma. A silly grin crossed her face when she thought that.

  
"Stop that," she said aloud to herself, slapping her own cheeks as if to wipe the mood away. It didn't; her face just got redder.

  
"Sorry, I'll leave..."

  
Akane shot up from her bed to see Ranma turning from her door, which was ajar a crack, and found herself running to catch him.

  
"Wait -- I didn't know you were there... Why were you standing outside my door...?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow, "and how long... were you standing there?" she was nearly frowning now. Ranma waved his hands in front of himself at her, with his typical 'hey now, don't go jumping to conclusions!' expression across his face.

  
"No, no, I just wanted to see.. er, talk to you. I was only there for a little while, I didn't see.. I wasn't looking -- I mean, I wasn't spying on you, if that's what you think! I... just wanted to talk. That's all," he ended, frowning at the floor, his arms held up behind his head. Akane peered at him narrowly, and sighed again.

  
"Well, then, come in," she turned back into her room, pushing the door open for Ranma to come in through. She hadn't even made it to her bed before he had leapt to it and was already sitting comfortably, although his right hand was nervously fidgeting with the braid on the back of his head. She sat down across from him on her desk chair and waited.  
He looked at the opposite wall, and began, "I talked with my mom, and she told me that the party was all your idea," he looked over to her, to find that she was gazing out the window at the moon. He looked out too; it was big tonight, and he could see the rabbit very clearly.

  
"Yes, it was my idea," she answered, unable to think of anything good to tack onto her response.

  
"Anyway..." he began, but paused, rethinking his line, "anyway, no one's ever done something that... nice for me before," Akane pulled herself away from the moon to look at him; he looked like a god with the shimmery moonlight upon his face. "And I never would'a expected something like that from anyone, 'specially you."

  
Akane frowned, and opened her mouth to protest, but he went on right away.

  
"I know I've been a real weight on you and your family, and I know I'm not the most polite and sensitive guy in the neighborhood, so I never would expect you to do anything for me... other than givin' me a few punches or kicks. And seein' how you put so much effort into making a cake that was more than edible, I'm... more than grateful," before Akane knew it, her eyes were locked with his, and she felt her heart beating hard inside her chest and she could have sworn that she heard his beating just as hard. "I just had to tell you, what you did meant... a lot."  
It must have been the full moon, the magic that poured in with the silvery light, but Akane felt herself leaning over, leaning... into his lips. She knew it really wasn't much of a kiss, later on, but it felt like an eternity, a whole new world opening before her in a quick, novice kiss. As soon as it had happened, it ended, and she opened her eyes just in time to see a pigtail hurry out her door. She stood up, shocked for the second time in one day, and flopped down onto her bed. 

  
"Did that just happen?" she asked herself, pressingher fingers to her lips. She sat for a while just like that, determining if it were dream or reality. She gazed out of her window again, and lingered on a mischievous moon smiling down on her. Yes, it seemed that her life truly was taking off in the right direction. 


	2. Chapter 2: Fever

Inu Ranma

By Medina

*Characters property of Rumiko Takahashi. But you knew that already.

Chapter 2: Fever

Akane found herself doing a lot of things that weren't normal for her; this morning, she just happened to be humming happily as she dressed and sat down for breakfast. Her family was worried -- this was not the Akane they knew, and if Akane didn't know what she knew, she would be worried for herself as well. Another thing was odd; she had beaten Ranma to breakfast, who came sauntering in a few minutes after she had come down. He looked tired, and a little flushed.

  
"My, my, this is an odd morning," Nabiki quipped, looking up from the stock reports in the paper, "Akane's as chipper as a songbird, and Ranma's late to breakfast! Too much partying, eh, Saotome?" Ranma grunted as Kasumi placed a bowl of egg over rice in front of him, and he picked up his chopsticks hesitantly, not seeming too interested in the food. "I know, you and Akane were up all night necking! Haha!"

  
"You kissed and told!?" Akane screamed at Ranma, slapping his face into his ricebowl. He jerked his head up, face spotted with rice and egg, and fumed at Akane.

  
"Why would I tell Nabiki that I kissed a tomboy like you?!" he shot back, while Akane reached for his throat. The kitchen was suddenly quiet, and they froze, looking at Nabiki.

  
"I... was just joking."

  
They were both suddenly back in their seats, Akane intently eating her breakfast, and Ranma seemed to have a sudden interest in the gardening section of the newspaper in front of him. Soun and Genma grinned, knowing for once when not to intervene with their children, and shook hands below the table. Nabiki continued to stare, then shook her head. Ranma nervously looked up at the clock on the wall, and shot out of his seat.

  
"Oh! Look at the time! Come on, Akane, we'll be late for school!" he grabbed Akane by the wrist, and pulled her out the door, ricebowl and all.

  
They were half-way to school already when Ranma finally let her go, and she had finished her breakfast by then. He wheezed, his face red and sweaty. Akane looked down at him, for he had crouched down to better catch his breath, and he peered up at her.

  
"What?" he asked between gasps.

  
"Are you okay? I mean, you come in and kiss me in the middle of the night, you're late for breakfast, and you drag me out of the house. Are you finally feeling the effects of being punched too many times?" she toyed at him. 

  
"Uncute," he tossed back, between another gasp.

  
"Fine, then I'll go to school by myself," she began to walk away from him.

  
"Hey, wait," he stood up, catching up with her. 

  
"Seriously," she said, watching the street for cars before they crossed, "was that just... a game last night? Was I dreaming?"

  
Ranma saw the honesty in her eyes; he liked her when she was being reasonable. "I... I just wanted to thank you, that's all," he said uneasily.

  
"So, you kiss everyone you're grateful to Okay, I can live with that," she said, disappointed. "_Wow, I'm not getting mad... what's wrong with me?_"

  
"Hey, not everyone... just someone who gives me a really great gift... ," he said thoughtfully, wondering too why Akane hadn't pounded him yet, and looked over at her; she was smiling again? If he hadn't lost it, she surely had! "But... um... you're not mad at me 'bout it, are you?"

  
"No," was all she said back to him, and continued to walk. He stared up at the sky, his arms held up behind his head, confused. 

  
"J_ust as the world seems to be calming down, she has to go and complicate things... by being nice. Why did I have to kiss her... she's so... not cute. She's beautiful. What? What am I doing?_" he looked at her again, and she was still glowing in that strange womanly way she had the night before -- the same way that had made him want to kiss her. "_That's it... I am cracked..._"

  
Akane knew he didn't get what was going on; he had been the one who had kissed her, not the other way around. But by now she understood that Ranma usually acted on impulse, and usually didn't understand his own motivations right away. That was alright, because she was in just as much of a whirl, but it was a whirl she could handle. She thought back to the wedding that didn't happen. She had been so angry when he had denied having feelings for her, but that was months ago. Something new, something better seemed to be arising in the both of them -- maybe they were maturing, and were both coming to realize that beneath all of the animosity that came from being forced together, they really did love one another. Love. Wow, that was a big step, and Akane wasn't sure if she wanted to say that yet, but maybe, with Ranma's impulsive nature, she wouldn't be the one who'd say it first. She was confused, but didn't want to get angry; she wanted something new to arise from the confusion, this time. And maybe, just maybe, she could have something normal in her life.

* * * *

Ranma knew something was amiss, but he just couldn't put his finger on it right now. No, he already had identified the party, the cake, the moonlit kiss -- those were identifiable anomalies, and he had already tucked those incidences into his "odd, yet nice" category. This was something else, something having to do with himself, and nothing else. 

  
As he padded along the route to school, now entering the gates of the too-familiar Furinkan High, he took advantage of the comfortable silence that he and Akane were sharing for once. It was great; something that he could get used to, he thought, looking at Akane's pleasant expression from thr corner of his eye and grinned absently himself. He furrowed his brow momentarily, wracking his brain to identify what was wrong.

  
"Saotome! Thou'rt scum--" 

  
A quick leap and a roundhouse sent Kuno facefirst into the dirt, where he stayed down as he normally did at this time in the morning.

  
"_7:45, right on the nose. Don't have time to bother with him today_," he went over in his head, not even missing a beat in his walk with Akane, and lifted up his hand to wipe the sweat off of his brow.

  
Sweat? A roundhouse to Kuno made him break a sweat?

  
Leaving his hand there, he did feel warmer than usual... but perhaps that was due to the... embarassing... situation during breakfast. He nodded; it had to be that. Climbing the stairs to class, he decided to rest on the conclusion that it was simply fallout from the other oddities that had visited him. Now he was free to contemplate where Akane's mallet came from, or why Kuno was still attacking him at school when he had graduated the year before, or why old men keep sea salt.

  
He would have liked to have left it that way, however, when he had finally made it to the floor his class was on -- the third floor -- he felt as if he were going to collapse and tumble right back down to the bottom. Mustering all of his strength, he tried to keep up with Akane, but couldn't, and stopped, leaning against the railing. He hoped Akane would just go to class on her own and not wonder why he had fallen behind, but the way that they were carrying on this morning... She had barely taken three steps before she noticed his presence missing. He cringed, not wanting to be seen faltering, especially by Akane. He tried not to make eye contact with her as she pushed herself through the crowd of students hurrying to class in the other direction.

  
"What's wrong, Ranma?" she asked, looking almost peeved that he was just standing there. He forced a grin.

  
"Ah, nothin', I just felt like, well, you know, stopping and smelling the roses?" he winced. "_I *suck* at lying..._"

  
Akane's expression twisted at that, "What? At the top of the cement stairwell on the third floor?"

  
"I enjoy the smell of..." he sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose, "gym clothes and... the chemistry lab... and ammonia..." he gave up and smiled sheepishly at her. Akane shook her head; sometimes it was best just to not pursue the subject any further. She grabbed his hand and pulled him like a dead weight towards their homeroom.

  
"C'mon, we're nearly late-- Ranma, your hand's so hot, what have you been doing?" she asked forcefully, but retracted, as the statement seemed to connotate something she didn't want to even picture. Then she got the idea. "Let me feel your forehead," she said, reaching up to place the back of her hand against his face. He jerked back, not letting her.

  
"Come on!" she yelled, getting angry, and slapped her hand to his face so hard that he almost fell backwards. "Ranma, you're burning up! Geeze, didn't you notice at all before we left home that you're sick?" she told him, looking up at him in an admonishing yet motherly way.

  
"Sick? Me? No way in hell. You know I never get sick -- I'm just in too good health to be sick..." he trailed off, seeing as how that statement didn't make sense in itself, but it dawned on him; he did feel sick. That morning, not being able to get up on time, he wasn't hungry for once in his life, running halfway to school had caused him to be completely winded, and the stairs! he barely made it up! He frowned. "I'm not sick."

  
Akane shrugged, "If you insist... but it's not my problem if you get in trouble with the school for bringing in a virus when you knew that you should have stayed home..."

  
"I'm not goin' home."

  
"Did I tell you to?"

  
**BRIIIIIING!!**

  
They whirled to see the time on the clock: "8:00"

  
"We're late!!!" they both screamed and scurried off to class.

"Another fine mess..." Akane grumbled, shifting her weight so she could optimally reserve her strength to hold onto the buckets full of water that she had in her hands. She peered over to Ranma, as she always did when he made them late. Well, sometimes it was her fault, but she blamed him anyway; he always made a good scapegoat. She softened when she saw him. He was definitely sick, no matter how hard he tried to deny it or cover it up -- she could see the sweat beading up on his nose and forehead, and his face was brightly flushed. She noted his hands shaking, trying to keep his grip on the buckets.

  
"_Okay, I am sick..._" he admitted to himself, feeling the weakness in his entire body. Normally, he would be able to carry these buckets around for days without feeling the slightest ache in his arms and hands, but now... he might as well have been carrying the world while Atlas took a coffee break!

  
"Miss Tendo, Mr. Saotome, that's enough. Come back in," the teacher said, poking his head out of the door. Akane placed the buckets gently along the wall for the janitor to dump out when he came by. Ranma, in a gasp of relief, dropped the steel buckets to the floor with a loud clang, nearly sloshing the water out onto himself. He sweated more in relief of that! Akane waited, as he trudged to her side and back into the classroom.

  
"Why don't you go to the nurse's station and get excused to go home. You must have the flu, and it's not good to be out and about with that," she whispered to him, a look of honest concern on her face. The look tempted him, but... no! He, Ranma Saotome wouldn't ko'd by a virus!  
"I can handle it, Akane."

"_When did the room start to tilt_?" he asked himself, fifteen minutes into the morning lecture on definite integrals. He shook his head, and looked down onto his note paper -- he had hardly a scribble, but it looked like the ceiling had been leaking -- sweat! "_Eew... Alright, Akane, you win..._" he glanced over to her; he knew that she had been keeping an eye on him since they sat down, and when she met his gaze, nodded at him to go ahead and get the teacher's attention. He reluctantly raised his hand, which felt as heavy as the buckets had been earlier.

  
"Mr. Saotome?" the teacher asked absently, continuing to write 

equations on the chalk board.

  
"Teach, I think I need to see the nurse..."

  
"Go ahead."

  
Ranma turned to slide out of his seat, and when he started to stand up, he felt everything flip. His legs wobbled out from under him. "_Crap, not in front of the whole class..._" He felt himself crash to the ground in a heap, he tried to get up, but the room wouldn't stop spinning, and he welcomed the blackness that followed. "_Didn't wanna see the looks on their faces anyway...._"

* * * * *

"Unnh..." he groaned, blinking his eyes, which stung like he had just made it through a dust storm. He knew that he was lying down, and looked down the length of his body, but his view was blocked somewhat close to his face. He felt the cold, dripping towl on his forehead. Oh. Tilting his, rather, her head to the side, she saw the nurse's stout form in the corner talking to none other than _her mother_! She would have screamed, but found that she neither had the strength, nor the desire to hack through the phlegm in her throat in such a way. She felt someone pick up the rag off of her head, and place it back on, newly cold with fresh water. Switching sides of sight, albeit, a little too fast, for it made her head hurt even more, there was Akane playing nursemaid to her! This was too much...

  
"What are you all doing?" she hissed in annoyance, shooting up straight on the cot in the nurse's station and immediately experiencing the stomach-twisting vertigo that she had felt earlier, she fell back down onto the cot. "Quit fawnin' over me... I can take this," she muttered, trying to get back up, albeit, slower.

  
"Listen, dope, you're sick, and you're weaker than..." Akane noticed a spark of apprehension mark girl-Ranma's face, "well, let's just say that you won't be fighting anyone for a few days. Auntie Nodoka's here because the school called her over since your dad went out drinking with mine this morning for god knows what reason," she paused; they both knew why. "The administration doesn't want someone with such a mean virus to be around giving it to other students... they figure anything that would knock you down so hard might be lethal to a normal teenager." Her tone had gradually softened, and Ranma could see the earnest care in her face. Ranma sighed, and looked down.

  
"Okay, you win... I'll go home," she told Akane, now that she had been able to inch her way up into a sitting position, and looked back up at the other girl; she looked relieved.

  
"Good. Anyway, it wasn't like you had much of a choice..." Akane smirked.  
"Ooh, just you wait-- Gaaah!" girl-Ranma screeched as she felt herself being squished and lifted into the air.

  
"My poor baby!! Don't you worry a bit! Mommy's going to take good care of her little Ranma until she's all better!" Nodoka said, nearly crushing the life out of her female-formed son. 

  
"I'm a booooy..." Ranma gurgled. Akane giggled, grabbing the cup of hot water she had by her and splashed Ranma, turning her back into a him. Amazingly, being fifty to seventy pounds heavier now, Nodoka could still haul him over her shoulder as she would if he were a toddler. Ranma looked to Akane with pleading eyes, and she conceded, embarrassed for him.

  
"Auntie Nodoka, please," she said, "I'm sure we could let him walk on his own and help him along." Nodoka thought about it, and nodded, putting Ranma down on his feet. Akane gently wrapped Ranma's arm over her shoulders, holding his hand with one arm, the other supporting his back, holding onto his waist. She felt the firm muscles on his back and side ripple as he made an effort to move, and blushed. Suddenly, she found herself face to face with him, his eyes formed into an expression that she didn't recognize too well...

  
"Thanks, Akane... I'd never live it down if everyone saw mom carrying me like a baby down the halls, especially since..." he paused -- Akane almost had a finger on what that look he was giving was -- "I don't think I could have gotten out of her grip if I tried..."

  
Pain. But it was still more complex. It was like... he was honestly grateful for her help, but defeated at the same time. They began to walk out, and Akane was hoping that they wouldn't meet any students out in the hall, for Ranma's sake. On the day after his birthday, he didn't deserve this -- to be seen having two women helping him down the hall like a withered old man.

  
Ranma knew Akane felt bad for him; had the positions been switched, he would have felt the same, but, it would have been different for her. Girls were the ones who were supposed to faint away without a moment's notice, and it was okay for a girl to show a little bit of weakness every now and again, (Akane could sure use a bit of that!) but a guy? No way in all seven hells. Granted, Ranma was a girl sometimes... He pushed that thought out of his head with a sneer. At least when he had the weakness moxibustion spell on him, he was still able to stand up, walk around, make it up flights of stairs, _not_ fall out of his seat in class... He cringed. Everybody had seen that, and there must have been a commotion made, heck, the whole school probably knew about it by now! He sighed, and felt his mother rub his back gently as she had him held up on the other side of Akane; he did love his mom, but she could be too much at times.

  
"How are you holding up, Ranma?" Akane whispered in his ear, probably feeling the heat from his body and seeing his changing facial expressions. They were going down the main stairs now, and they had yet to meet any students.

  
"I'm fine... stop worryin' about me, k?" he told her, his voice coming out strained, betraying his statement. He cursed the virus that had gotten into his body, cursed his immune system for letting it through, cursed the world for knocking him down! He breathed in and out deeply, feeling faint again -- he couldn't expend any energy seething at things he couldn't do much about. "You know these things. It'll be gone in a couple 'a days," he told her confidently. Akane's mood seemed to lighten at that, and it made him feel a bit better just seeing it.

  
"Akane! I can't believe... I found you so fast!" a familiar voice chimed in from behind, and Akane glance over her shoulder. "Say, what are you three doing here in Okinawa, anyway?" Both Ranma and Akane sighed -- he'd catch on in a few minutes. 

  
The lost boy caught up to the trio, and bowed to Nodoka, who returned the gesture with a motherly smile. Looking confused, he examined the setup: two women, namely Ranma's mother, Nodoka, and his fiancee, Akane, giving him, Ranma, the toughest martial artist this side of the Ural mountains aid in walking down the street to their house. Ranma showed no signs of a recent battle, either. Perhaps a spell? Ryoga, before beginning to say something, commended himself for his conduct; not months before, he would have challenged Ranma to a duel right there and then for a) the normal "You Ruined My Life" bit, b) for daring to stand so close to Akane, and c) leaving himself so blatantly open! Yes, Ryoga, you have become a better man!

  
"If you don't mind me asking," he broke the momentary silence and waited for their attention, which took hardly a second, "why are you ladies walking him down the street? Is he drunk?" Ryoga nearly slapped himself. Stupid, stupid...

  
Ranma glowered, Akane rolled her eyes, and Nodoka giggled, and spoke up before either her son or his fiancee could stop her.

  
"Oh, you tease, Ryoga dear! My little Ranma simply has a touch of the flu and he doesn't have much balance right now, or strength for that matter, so we're just helping him home to get into bed," she told the fanged youth with a broad smile on her face the whole time, not noticing that Ranma looked as if he were about to vomit, to be shortly joined in the act by Akane. Ryoga bigsweated.

  
"Is that so?" his eyes narrowed evilly at Ranma; he wasn't an enemy, but there was still karma that the pigtailed boy had coming to him! "Poor Ranma, I hope that he didn't make a big deal of it at school," he spurred Nodoka on.

  
"Oh, no, no, Ranma would never wail or moan about a little fever, although he did faint away in the middle of his math class. Isn't that right, my poor sick baby?" she squeezed Ranma to her side again, his eyes smoldering with rage. Ryoga simply grinned.

  
"Alright, Mrs. Saotome. If you ever need any help while he's sick, I'm always available to lend a hand for a poor, sick friend."

  
"Thank you so much, Ryoga dear! I'll be sure to keep you in mind!" she looked down at Ranma, who wished he would just pass out again to block out the horror of this treatment. "Ranma, that Ryoga is such a sweet, good friend, isn't he?" He nodded, and looked daggers at the pig-boy.

  
"Hey, Akane," Ranma began, still glaring at the self-satisfied Ryoga, "you seen P-chan lately?"

  
"No, I haven't, actually. Why?"

  
"When we get home... I'm sure he's going to appear, like _magic_, right before your eyes!" Ryoga sweated.

  
"What are you talking about? I think you're getting delusions from your fever."

  
"Naah, I'll make him show up for you to see!"

  
Ryoga lost his smile.

* * * * *

As much as Ranma would have liked to have dumped cold water on Ryoga in front of the whole Tendo household, he was spent by the time they got home, and collapsed, gratefully, onto his futon, and rolled up inside his blankets. It was late fall, and the chill breeze of the outdoors had been more than enough to make him less than comfortable. It made little sense to him, however, how he could be so cold when his body was raging with fever. His head hurt too much to think about it, and so he nuzzled his face into the pillow and allowed himself to relax into sleep.

"Kasumi dear, do you have a thermometer anywhere in the house?" Nodoka asked the eldest Tendo daughter, who was cleaning the lunch dishes in the kitchen. Kasumi's normally pleasant face washed with a look of deep thought for a moment, and reverted when she nodded to the woman.

  
"Oh yes, we do Mrs. Saotome, it's in the upstairs bathroom under the sink. It's a thermal scanner that dear Dr. Tofu gave to me after he got a new one," she seemed to drift further off into space when she mentioned the good doctor's name. Nodoka smiled and bowed.

  
"Thank you, Kasumi dear."

  
"If you'll excuse my curiosity, who needs it?" it had seemed odd to her, as she knew if someone in her family was sick, for she would be tending to them right away.

  
"It's for my little Ranma. He's come down with a touch of the flu, and Akane and I brought him home from school. Don't worry -- I wrote an excuse notice for the both of them, and had a note sent to Nabiki to have their homework brought home," Nodoka's voice seemed heavier now, and Kasumi left from scrubbing the dishes to face her more openly.  
"Mrs. Saotome, are you well yourself? You suddenly look so worried..." Kasumi said in a motherly voice that rivaled Nodoka's own. Nodoka caught herself, and immediately brought her being up to her normal buoyancy. Smiling once again, she shook her head.

  
"Ah, Kasumi dear, you care so much for others! I'm just worn out from helping my little Ranma walk back from school, and of course -- I do have the concern that any mother would have for her sick child!"

  
Kasumi lit back up as well; "Of course, of course! In that case, would you care for some tea to relax yourself? I think we have some chinese herbal tea that would do wonders for Ranma as well," she was instantly up in the cupboard, rummaging through her collection of teas.

  
"Thank you, Kasumi dear, you are an angel! I'll set the water boiling while you do that."

  
While Nodoka Saotome filled the teakettle with water from the tap, her worried look returned to her...

  
"_Something is not right in the world right now... I feel it in my bones... The ancestors must be trying to warn me about it..._"

Just as he felt himself finally drifting away into a most welcome sleep, something began to kick his side. "_Pop, Akane, Happosai... whoever it is, they ain't gonna interrupt my sleep!_" he declared in his mind and remained as determined as ever to remain in dreamland. The kicking stopped, and Ranma resumed snoring.

  
"SAOTOME! WAKE UP!!!" 

  
Shocked back to the waking world with an assault to his hearing, his ears rang more now than they had been with his headache. Looking up he saw the frowning face of Ryoga Hibiki with a bullhorn that must have been borrowed from Akane's stash of magically-appearing-and-dissapearing items, and, as expected, the bullhorn disappeared without a trace as soon as Ryoga knelt down next to Ranma.

  
"Whaddya want, Dan?" Ranma smirked halfway, unable to maintain a straight face while using such a lame joke; he had been tempted many times before to use it, but had never felt in a cheesy enough mood to use it.

  
"I-- What? You dare insult me by putting me in the same league as that pink-gi'd fool!? I do not incite foolish battles... ah, I mean, I would never cry as he... I'd never play second fiddle to... ... I WOULD NEVER WEAR PINK!" Ryoga's face was nearly to the floor, his fist pounding on the wood slabs. Ranma narrowed his eyes and sighed.

  
"Are you finished?"

  
"Yes." Ryoga sat up straight, wiping the tears from his eyes, his countenance returning to the seriousness that he had been maintaining before. "Now that we're _even_--"

  
"Says who?" Ranma interjected drolly. Ryoga glared, but continued.

  
"-- I was going to offer you some help. Here," he handed Ranma a folded-up napkin with a bulge in a corner. Ranma shook out the contents into his hand: two white pills.

  
"Sorry, man," he handed them back to Ryoga, "I'm not into meth. You might be in with that whole raver scene, but I value my body." Ryoga's face went wide with exasperation.

  
"It's acetaminophen, you boob!" he roared, showing the bottle of pills he had taken them from: it was all in English; "Tylenol".

  
"Oh. Is this the stuff they call "acid" in the USA? I'm not into that, either," Ranma said, looking at the bottle, trying to decipher the English as best he could. Ryoga grew a volcano atop his head.

  
"IT'S A FEVER REDUCER!!! Why on Earth would you think that I'm dealing drugs??" as he seethed, Ranma looked up, his mood remaining even and shrugged.

  
"Dunno, but it would explain you gettin' lost all of the time..." Ryoga facefaulted. "Oh, so this is that stuff, eh? Thanks, buddy, I'll be sure to take these. Uh... you k, Ryoga?" he looked down at Ryoga, who was nearly passed out from the energy he had expended.

  
"Just peachy."

"Raaaanma dear! Are you awake?" a dulcet voice filled the air of Ranma's room, a voice that only could have belonged to one of two people: either Kasumi Tendo or Nodoka Saotome. Ranma looked up to see that it was the latter of the two, his own mother. He couldn't help but smile like a child whenever she greeted him thus.

  
"I'm up, mom," he chimed back in the same childish way that he had grinned.

  
"Yeah, mom, can I have my bwanky?" Ryoga copied Ranma, clasping his hands together and making kissy lips. Ranma shot an angry eye down at Ryoga, digging his elbow into the middle of the boy's back, hitting a pressure point which made Ryoga feel as if there were knives traveling up his nerves from that spot. 

  
"_I might not be at full strength, but I'm still nothing to be trifled with..._" Ranma said in his mind, which Ryoga now and should have before understood.

  
"Here is some herbal tea for you, which that darling Kasumi made. It should to help with relaxing the tension in your muscles and aid your immune system. Oh, is Ryoga dear still here?" she asked, finally taking notice of Ryoga's form still spazzing on the floor. Ranma grinned guiltily.  
"Hehe, yeah, I think that he's plannin' on stickin' around, ain't that right, Mr. Pig?" he nudged Ryoga again, this time not in the pressure point. Ryoga groaned. "That was a yes... Anyway, he was just here to give me some medicine," he opened his hand towards his mother, showing off the pills, "he called 'em acid-o-medicine, somethin' like that. He says it's s'posed to reduce fever." he took the cup of tea from the tray his mother had placed before him, and tossing back the pills, washed them down with a hearty gulp of the tea. Another gulp, and the tea was gone; he found that it had a rather pleasant flavor of mint, eucalyptus and some other sweet herb that was most likely the 'ancient chinese secret'. He scoffed mentally at that; it was probably a drop of dried cough syrup from the corner drugstore. 

  
Nodoka sat down next to him on his futon, patting down the bedding gently, and let her eyes linger on her son's form. She was so proud of how he had grown up into a strong, handsome man. He wasn't twenty yet, but in so many ways, he was truly a man... and now, she was worried. Ten years of being parted from her only child must have accumulated that worry, to manifest itself in her want to care for him as much as she could now... but he was so independent. This had been the first time in a long time that she had been able to be mother to him, and soon, she knew, Akane would take her place as the woman in his life. So she was allowed to worry about him, for now, in his illness. As they sat there in the silence, something passed between mother and son, and Ranma looked over to her, his eyelids heavy with drowsiness. Nodoka, looking into those deep, deep blue eyes of his, seeing a presence there that only she understood; it must have been what was worrying her more than she needed to.

  
She gazed lovingly back into those eyes, so much like her own. She raised her hand to his head, first cupping his cheek with her hand, and then stroked his hair lightly, feeling the coarseness of it, remembering the fine baby-hair that she had once felt in the same way so many years before. Then, something she did not expect happened: Ranma leaned over and rested his head upon her lap, snuggling his face against her kimono-covered lap as he had done as a child. Smiling a mother's gentle smile, she continued to stroke his head. Eyes closed, she remembered back to the child he was, and the child that he would always be to her, no matter what befell them in the future.

  
After a few minutes, she felt his breathing slow into a deep, even rhythm, and light snoring escape his mouth. 

  
"Ah, my dear child, finally in a fitful sleep. I know how much you hate being fawned over, as you call it, so I decided to wait until you were sound asleep to take your temperature. And now, as I hear no protest from you, I'll do that," she whispered, picking up the thermometer that Kasumi had lent her and examined it. "_However does this contraption work? It surely isn't the kind of thermometer I'm accustomed to,_" she turned the thing in all directions before her, trying to find some indication on how to use it; it was shaped somewhat like a gun, it had a part that looked like the handle, and a part that looked like it was supposed to take the temperature reading... but how? Holding it as a gun, she found that it had a trigger, which she pulled on, resulting in a red light to shine lightly at the other tip. "_That must be how it reads the temperature, and it shows it on the little screen here..._" she looked at the LCD screen near the trigger, which read "ready". 

  
"_Alright, so... where do I put it?_" she looked across his body, her first impulse someplace... below the belt, but found herself blushing at the thought of it. "_No, he would surely wake up, and not too happy to be in such a position._" Now she looked at his mouth, but that didn't work out either; the shape of the reading end just didn't fit with that orifice. A light went on above her head, "_Now, how could I have not seen that? It's meant to be put in the ear! Dear me, if I had one of these when he was a baby, what crying fits we could have avoided! Now, I suppose I just put it to his ear like so..._" she placed the reader ever-so-carefully to the ear that was sticking out, as he was lying on his side, and prepared to pull the trigger...

"I guess I should check up on Ranma. At least, I can see if he's finally decided to take a nap," Akane said as she approached Ranma's room, carrying a cool, damp cloth to put on his forehead. Before she had the chance to sink back into the deep, contemplative mood that she had been finding herself in lately, she was greeted with a sight that stopped her right in her tracks: Nodoka, with Ranma lying down at her lap, was holding a gun right to his ear, ready to pull the trigger! The "man among men" agreement struck her memory, and she pulled her hands up to her mouth in horror. _"A gun?? NO, he must have failed by passing out in school!! I should have seen this coming... she can't do this to him; he can't help it if he got the flu! _I have to stop her!!"

  
"NOO!" Akane screeched, running into the room, Nodoka's head whipping 'round just in time to see Akane trip on Ranma's school bag, left in the middle of the floor as usual, and come skidding to a stop but a foot away from her.

  
"Akane dear, whatever is the matter?" Nodoka asked, her voice and face the utmost of innocence.

  
"_I'm too late..._" Akane thought, and watched the woman's finger pull, and a clcik sound from her implement of death. She pressed her eyes shut, pushing herself up off of the floor with her hands. 

  
"RANMAAAA!!!" she screamed, lunging forward to land right on top of him.  
She opened her eyes, expecting horrid sight of her fiancees gray matter being splattered across the floor, but saw nothing but the unconscious form of Ryoga sprawled out on the floor on the other side of the room.

  
"Mff moff meee..."

  
"Hm..?" she looked around, swearing that it sounded like Ranma... then she realized that she was on top of him, his face dug into her chest right between her... 

  
"Pervert!!" she cried more out of habit than anything, rolling off of him with an automatic fist in his stomach.

  
"Tomboooy..." he gurgled, winded by her cheap punch. Akane reddedned; he was alright! ...And she had just given him a rather sound punch.

  
"Ranma! I'm sorry... I just thought that, well, your mother was trying to kill you again..." she said, still blushing, staring down at Ranma, who was making an effort to recover the breath he lost from Akane falling on him and sucker punching him in the gut.

  
"Kill my son? How could you ever think that I would be so horrid!" Nodoka cried, bringing her hands to her face, completely taken aback by the insinuation.

  
"But, with all due respect, Auntie, you carried around that katana for Ranma and Mr. Saotome, because of the "Man Among Men" pact you made," Akane said, taking her attention away from apologizing to Ranma.  
"Oh, of course I did," Nodoka began, "But I wouldn't have ever laid a hurting hand on them! They were supposed to kill themselves!" she said with a lilt to her voice, already back in her normal spirit. Akane and Ranma both facefaulted.

  
"So... what's that?" Akane pointed to the 'weapon' still in the woman's hand. She looked at it as if she had completely forgotten about it, and laughed again.

  
"This? It's a thermometer! I was just taking my little Ranma's temperature while he was asleep so he wouldn't put up a fight!"  
"Moooooom..!" Ranma whined, frowning.

  
"Oh..." Akane said, blushing yet again. "Well, I'm sorry for thinking such of you, Auntie Saotome," she bowed, partly in an effort to hide her beet red face.

  
"No harm done, dear! Now, what was your temperature, young man..." she looked down at the LCD screen. "One hundred and three!? Lie down, my little Ranma!" she forcefully shoved him down onto his pillow, his eyes pleading with Akane not to giggle. She merely drew a grin, which was enough to merely singe Ranma's pride. "You'd need a humidifier, and don't forget the extra blanket! You want your pengie toy? You remember Mr. Pengie? Here, and, oh my, you have to make sure that Ryoga's not in the way, so I'll just push him, and..." 

  
Before Akane knew it, the room was changed: a low light had been set up at Ranma's bedside, and Ryoga was now passed out in the hall, (how Nodoka had been able to lift that lump was a mystery in itself), a humidifier sat steaming in another corner, there were extra pillows and blankets on Ranma's futon, a somewhat loved looking stuffed penguin tucked into the sheet next to Ranma's head, and a pile of books next to the futon within an arm's reach of him. Nodoka had conjured up a rocking chair and was now contentedly rocking back and forth, knitting. She hadn't even broken a sweat.

  
Ranma sat red in his bed, looking nearly angry, but the weariness in his eyes was evident; and after a short of pulling the penguin under the covers so that he might not be caught sleeping with a stuffed animal, he did nothing to fight what his mother had set out to baby him with. Akane relaxed into a crossed-legged position, gazing down at him and studied his face, slightly flushed with fever, his eyelids drooping again. She smiled absently, again, falling into some maternal state that took joy in watching over the loved.

  
"_So tired..._" chanted his internal monologue, "_mom... why'd you have to be so... caring.._." He felt sleep taking over again when he became aware of Akane watching him; it felt... good. "_Akane... you're so much like... mom._" 


End file.
